The US Geological Survey (USGS) has a requirement for annual membership to the Consortium of Organizations for Strong-Motion Observation Systems (COSMOS). The COSMOS membership will provide the Earthquake Hazards Program (EHP) of the USGS with partnership access to dense networks of observations of ground motion in urban areas, monitoring for seismic hazards at a level of detail far exceeding that which can be provided by federal funding representing a tangible and of significant benefit to further the EHP's Congressional mandate to develop, disseminate, and promote knowledge, tools, and practices for earthquake risk reduction. The USGS is aware of no other source that can provide the above. Therefore, it intends to make an award to COSMOS, unless it is contacted by any vendor who believes they can provide the required Consortium of Organizations for Strong-Motion Observation Systems membership. Vendors are invited to contact the Contracting Specialist,
[email protected] no later than 12:00 PM EST, Monday, April 23, 2012 with an affirmative answer. SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION STATES THE FOLLOWING PART: The following information is provided to demonstrate the proposed contractor's unique qualifications: COSMOS is a unique organization within the strong-motion and earthquake safety communities. While many organizations gather, process, and catalog strong-motion data, COSMOS is the only organization that develops standards for these activities. Its products are therefore of great importance to the EHP as they provide a thorough and informed consensus process for the required standards and the resultant near real-time data. COSMOS's consortium structure results in a powerful set of standards and represents high-level and high-quality cooperation for the acquisition, processing, dissemination, and application of earthquake strong-motion data. The Strong-Motion Standards and Guidelines developed by COSMOS in the past are available through the COSMOS website at http://www.cosmos-eq.org/publications/index.html. Dues will provide for support of services to establish consensus standards for strong-motion data formats and data utilization and distribution standards in support of the EHP's Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) and National Strong-Motion Program (NSMP) objectives. Standards will be established based on national consensus and multi-agency efforts so that the needs of both the practicing engineering and research scientific communities are met. The standards will account for new capabilities of real-time modern digital instrumentation as well as conventional analog and digital instrumentation with only on-site recording capabilities. Standards will be developed to significantly improve the format to acquire and analyze strong-motion data via the Internet for purposes of site-specific earthquake resistant design and scientific research in support of EHP objectives. These standards are vital to the evaluation of seismic data to meet ANSS's Congressional mandate of monitoring and warning. The high-quality access to data that COSMOS membership affords the EHP provides risk-reduction information that will be (and has been in the past) utilized by the scientific, engineering, and emergency response communities to reduce the economic and life-safety impacts of earthquakes on the U.S. If COSMOS membership is not procured, the impact to the EHP is that data collection and processing guidelines within the U.S. will not remain up-to-date and will thereby not be useful for the important delivery of near real-time information to guide emergency response and provide much-needed information on earthquake ground motions and the response of buildings to strong shaking and will not be available to be used to mitigate seismically induced risks. .Additional essential hazard identification and risk analysis actions that the EHP will have access to as a result of COSMOS membership will include, but not be limited to: - Joint development of policies and fostering of innovative ideas by COSMOS members for the universal improvement in strong-motion measurements and their applications; - Joint promotion of the advancement of strong-motion measurement by COSMOS and the EHP in densely urbanized areas and other locations of special significance to populations likely to be struck by future earthquakes; - Joint encouragement of the rapid, convenient, and effective distribution of strong-motion data according to COSMOS-developed standards; - Joint improvement, expansion, and support by COSMOS of strong-motion programs; Participate in the consortium through which programs and institutions solve issues of mutual concern regarding instrumentation, data quality, data dissemination, and data utilization; - Jointly advance systematic user influence on data acquisition and data dissemination processes; and - Jointly advance and facilitate the use of strong-motion data to achieve improved earthquake resistance of the built environment. This membership provides the tangible benefits as noted above, needed to further the objectives of the EHP and its elements, ANSS and NSMP.